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Japanese Military's New Space Unit Will Defend 'Fourth Battlefield'

An illustration of the cloud of debris in low-Earth orbit. Credit: NASA

Japan's military could be extending its reach into space, with the country planning to develop a new force by 2019 to monitor the growing amount of space junk in orbit.

The initiative, which aims to protect satellites from being damaged by orbital debris, is also designed to boost cooperation in space between Japan and the United States, reported AFP. Both countries have emphasized the need to address the troubling cloud of debris in low-Earth orbit, with unnamed Japanese sources calling space the "fourth battlefield," according to the Tokyo-based Kyodo news agency.